Chapter 1 · Verse 13
आत्मा साक्षी विभुः पूर्ण एक एव त्वमात्मनः
ātmā sākṣī vibhuḥ pūrṇa eka eva tvam ātmanaḥ
This verse crystallizes the core teaching into four affirmations: Ātman is the Witness (sākṣī), all-pervading (vibhu), complete (pūrṇa), and singular (eka). The addition of pūrṇa (complete/full) is significant — the Self lacks nothing. Aṣṭāvakra then addresses the mind directly: why do you weep when you are fullness itself? This is not mere encouragement but a logical consequence: if you are already complete, suffering is based on a misapprehension. The path is not to become complete but to recognize that you already are — a theme that will recur throughout the text with increasing insistence.